classmaterials

Week 1: What does it mean to be a Connected Educator & The Global Access vs. Local Context Tension

Pre-Course Survey: How Connected Are You?
Assignment 1: Google Doc – What does it mean to be a connected educator?
Assignment 2: Create a list of 2-3 goals related to your professional growth that you would like to achieve by the end of this course.

Readings:

• Trust, T. (2012). Professional learning networks designed for teacher learning. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28(4), 133-138.
• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology (2011). Connect and inspire: Online communities of practice in education, pp. 2 – 11.
• Jones, B. (2010). Why a PLN changes everything. Retrieved from http://benpaddlejones.edublogs.org/2010/09/01/why-a-pln-changes-everything/

Week 2: Building a PLN: Information Aggregators (RSS Readers & Social Bookmarking)

Assignment 1: Setup Google Reader & upload a screenshot of your reader to your blog
Assignment 2: Add 1 resource to class Diigo group
eCourse Modules: http://edpln.wikispaces.com/RSS+Readers & http://edpln.wikispaces.com/Social+Bookmarking
Readings:

• Whitby, T. (2012). Smart-briefing and zite-seeing. Retrieved from http://edge.ascd.org/_Smart-Briefing-and-Zite-Seeing/blog/5942519/127586.html?b=
• Bright Hub Education (2012). Teaching social bookmarking with diigo education. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/62228-using-the-bookmarking-and-annotation-site-diigo-in-your-classroom/

Week 3: Building a PLN: Social Media Connection Tools (Edmodo, Ning)

Assignment: Google Doc – Compare Edmodo & Ning communities/groups
eCourse Modules: http://edpln.wikispaces.com/Edmodo
http://edpln.wikispaces.com/Ning

Readings:

• Hanson-Smith, E. (in-press). Online communities of practice. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics.

Week 4: Building a PLN: Social Media Connection Tools (Twitter)

Assignment 1: Participate in live Twitter chat about a group-selected topic
Assignment 2: Design a rubric to assess your progress in achieving your 2-3 course goals.
eCourse Module: http://edpln.wikispaces.com/Twitter

Readings:

• Brown, E. (2012). Teachers take to Twitter to improve craft and commiserate. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teachers-take-to-twitter-to-improve-craft-and-commiserate/2012/01/19/gIQAGv8UGQ_story.html
• Boss, S. (2011). Twittering, not frittering: Professional development in 140 characters. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/twitter-professional-development-technology-microblogging
• Dunn, J. (2012). 100 ways to use Twitter in education, by degree of difficulty. Retrieved from http://edudemic.com/2012/04/100-ways-to-use-twitter-in-education-by-degree-of-difficulty/.

Week 5: Preventing Information Overload

Assignment: Corkboard – preventing information overload tips

Readings:

• Trust, T. (2013). Building a PLN: Dealing with information overload. ASCD Express.
• Warlick, D. (2010). A gardner’s approach to learning: Cultivating your personal learning network. Raleigh, INC. The Landmark Project.
• Sumner, M. (2012). Technology: Where do I begin (part 2). Retrieved from http://edtechdhh.edublogs.org/tag/pln/.

Week 6: Ethics & Privacy with Social Media

Assignment: Wiki – upload, compare, and contrast social media policies
eCourse module: http://edpln.wikispaces.com/Ethics+%26+Privacy

Readings:

• Consumer Reports. (2012). Facebook and your privacy. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/facebook-and-your-privacy.html?page=1.
• Fisher, C. (n.d.). Creating social media guidelines for educators. ASCD. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/conferences/conference-daily/ac12/social-media-guidelines.aspx.
• NYC Department of Education. (2012). NYC department of education social media guidelines. Retrieved from http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/BCF47CED-604B-4FDD-B752-DC2D81504478/0/DOESocialMediaGuidelines20120430.pdf.

Week 7: Analyzing a PLN: Information Literacy & Networking

Assignment: Group Diigo – share 1 “crap” resource and describe why it’s “crap”
eCourse modules: http://edpln.wikispaces.com/Information+Literacy & http://edpln.wikispaces.com/Networking+%26+Netiquette

Readings:

• Rheingold, H. (2009). Crap detection 101. SF Gate. Retrieved from http://blog.sfgate.com/rheingold/2009/06/30/crap-detection-101/
• Poynter, D. (n.d.). Crap detection 101.
• Shapiro, A. (2011). The essential skill of crap detecting. Retrieved from http://morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/essential-skill-crap-detecting.
• Weinberg, T. (n.d.). The ultimate social media handbook. Retrieved from http://www.techipedia.com/2008/social-media-etiquette-handbook/.

Week 8: The 7 Degrees of Connectedness: Moving from Lurker to Confidant

Assignment: Screencast of your PLN & describe your level of connectedness
eCourse module: http://edpln.wikispaces.com/7+Degrees+of+Connectedness

Readings:

• Lucier, R. (2012). Seven degrees of connectedness. Retrieved from http://thecleversheep.blogspot.ca/2012/06/seven-degrees-of-connectedness.html
• Wagner, M. (2012). Personal learning networks for educators: 10 tips. Retrieved from http://gettingsmart.com/news/personal-learning-networks-for-educators-10-tips/

Week 9: Implementing Ideas from Your PLN

Assignment: Share an example of an idea you learned from your PLN that you implemented in your class

Readings:

• Klingensmith, K. (2009). PLN: Your personal learning network made easy. Retrieved from http://onceateacher.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/pln-your-personal-learning-network-made-easy/.

Week 10: Reflecting on Your PLN: What Works?

Assignment: Personal reflection blog post using self-designed rubric

Readings:

• Powerful Learning Practice. (2012). Connected educator starter kit.